[Turnaround]

I wanted to get a headphone splitter to use for my Line 6 HX Stomp (a guitar amp modeler), so two people can listen to it on headphones at the same time. Would like to maintain good sound quality, but not as critical as when listening to a high-end stereo system.

What's the sound quality like with cheap (under $10) headphone splitters, like those sold on Amazon?

I see Sweetwater sells some 4-channel headphone amps under $40, which are boxes with multiple powered headphone jacks. I assume those sound better than using a cheap Y splitter cable. Although this means having another device (with its own power cable) just for the headphones.

Would like to hear recommendations from people who have used either of these to use two headphones at the same time on a device with one headphone jack.

 

[qboogie]

I have the presonus HP4, which has 4 single ended outputs with individual volume and gets plenty loud. The sound is what I would consider thin, compared to a more high end amp. At the time I was using this with empyrean, verite open and closed.

I also got high quality custom silver y splitters from Norne, and custom OFC splitters from Hart audio. I've only used these with IEMs and meze 99 classics on the go. The splitters don't have a thin/bright sound though they do impart a very slight veil, but this is source dependent.

I've never A/B tested the two methods but I think for studio monitoring in a stationary setting, the HP4 is the better approach.